Blast into Gaming’s Past – Roller Coaster Tycoon

One of the things I decided to do at the start of 2017 is get back into the games I like playing. One of those games is Roller Coaster Tycoon. I bought Roller Coaster Tycoon Deluxe on Steam back in 2015, but never really played much until this year.

I’m currently working on a park in the Loopy Landscapes expansion, Arid Heights, a large desert park with a small portion of a lake to the west available to the park for building. The best perk of this park: no financial burden. Build to your heart’s content. The objective: to have 2,000 guests in the park and not let the park rating fall below 700 at any time. Other than that, with no money problems, the park is a nice, blank slate to work with.

I intend to give an overview, a tour, of my themed Arid Heights park, named Wizarding World. This park is still a work in progress park.

On with the tour!

As soon as you enter the park, you are first introduced by four kiosks, each equipped with providing you with your own Marauder’s Map, park edition, and an umbrella. Each kiosk has a different colored umbrella (red, yellow, green, and blue), representing the four houses of Hogwarts. Choose your kiosk wisely!

To the left of the “sorting kiosks” is a Merry-Go-Round, Unicorn Races. To the right, a Scrambled Eggs ride, named Portkey Vertigo. Just beyond the kiosk is a train station. Behind the first train station is a large wooden coaster decorated in all four house colors named The Quidditch Cup. Let’s continue the tour aboard the Hogwarts Express.

The train leaves the station and immediately enters the first House-themed area of the park. The first attraction seen, to the left and just beyond Unicorn Races, is a tall Observation Tower, decked out in blue and bronze. The Express has entered the Ravenclaw area, and that is Ravenclaw Tower. A little past the tower is a Space Rings ride, the Apparition Test. To the right is a white and blue steel coaster, the Wild Hippogriff. As the train approaches Ravenclaw Station, you see a food court with clean, slate tiles and souvenir stands selling blue hats, shirts, and umbrellas.

Leaving the station, the train is immediately engulfed in darkness. The train is now traveling beneath the Great Lake (even if only a sliver of the lake is available for the park to use). On the lake is a Boat Ride, Boat to Hogwarts. Just over the incline near the lake is a water coaster ride, Chamber of Secrets. The train emerges from the tunnel and is first greeted by a Haunted House, the Shrieking Shack. The train approaches the station near another food court, this time with green floor tiles and souvenirs. The Slytherin themed portion of the park. Just beyond the station is a Hedge Maze, The Third Task.

Just past the hedge maze and Slytherin Station is a Bumper Cars ride, Voldemort’s Wrath. Just beyond the bumper cars is a black steel coaster, Sprout’s Devil Snare. Underneath the dark coaster is a food court with beige floor tiles and yellow souvenirs, along with Hufflepuff Station. To the opposite side of the track is a River Ride, Greenhouse Irrigation.

As the train leaves Hufflepuff Station, the track disappears in a forest of trees, the Forbidden Forest. In the forest, you see a small cycle monorail, Anglia Escape. After a quick trip through the forest, the Express is greeted a large red, orange, and yellow steel coaster with many loops and corkscrews, Harry’s Firebolt. Beneath that is a fun house, WWW (Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes). Near Gryffindor Station and a red-themed food court, sits a Ferris Wheel, Hedwig’s Flight. After a short ride, the Express returns to the entrance.

At the time of this post, I’m currently at April, Year 2 with 1,297 guests and a park rating of 850. I plan to include an area themed for Diagon Alley (near Gryffindor/WWW) and Hogsmeade (near Slytherin/Shrieking Shack), and maybe rides based on Durmstrang and Beauxbatons as more ride and buildings are unlocked.

As much as I’d like to, I couldn’t perform the same experiment with my park as Azura is doing with his. If I leave my park unattended, the park rating will drop, and I can’t have that. At least, not until after I complete the objective. Oh, and for the record, yes, I’m to blame/credit for Azura dropping six bucks and getting him into the game.